Device for the lowering of lifeboats



1. DE BEE R. DEVICE FOR THE LOWERING 0F LIFEBOATS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-2, I918.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

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DEVICE FOR THE LOWERING 0F LIFEBOATS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-2, I918.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

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UNUSED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

JACOB DE BEER, OF ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS.

DEVICE FOR THE'LOWERING 0F LIFEBOATS.

Application filed August 2, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB on BEER, gentleman, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, residin at Rotterdam in the Province of South H olland, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for the Lowering of Lifeboats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for the lowering of life boats wherein the davitbooms are hinged to and guided in a framework fixed to the deck and are swung in or out by novel means which will be more fully described hereinafter. The primary object of the invention is to make it unnecessary to apply hand power for braking or retarding the operating mechanism and thus do away with the necessity of manual attendance upon the braking means at each davit. This object is attained, according to the present invention, by connecting the outer end of the brake lever included in the operating mechanism by means of a rope or other suitable means to the davit-boom whereby the rope or equivalent means is tensioned by the boom before the latter reaches its farthest outboard position, thus causing the brake to act.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a davit embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of part of the mechanism.

The davit-boom 1 is hinged at its lower end at 2 in a framework 3 fixed to the deck and in which framework the davit-boom is guided.

The upper end of the boom from which the boat 5 is suspended in the usual manner is connected to the upper end of a toothed rack 8 by-means of a rod 6 jointed thereto. The rack 8 is guided through a casing 10 which is hinged or pivoted to the framework 3 at 9. The apparatus also includes a stay rod 11 which is connected at one end to the framework 3 and at the other end to the oint of the rod 6 with the rack 8. This stay rod 11 tends to prevent the rod 6 from bending and'assists in guiding the rack 8 through the casing 10.

The casing 10 serves also as means for the application of the driving mechanism to cooperate with the rack 8, said driving mech- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

Serial No. 248,058.

anism consisting of a pinion 13 on a crank axle 14 provided with a crank 15, a toothed wheel 16 on an axle 17 and meshing with the pinion 13, a further pinion 18 carried by the axle 17 and meshing with a tooth wheel 16 fixed on an axle 47 on which is also mounted a pinion 48 which meshes with the toothed rack 8. By turning the crank 15 in opposite directions the rack may be moved up or down and the davit-boom may be moved outwardly or inwardly and the boat lowered or raised.

The Windlass for the hoisting tackle is indicated by the numeral 23.

On the axle 14: there is also mounted a brake disk 19 around which a brake band is disposed, said brake band being put under tension by a lever 35. The lever 35, which takes the place of the usual manually-operated lever, is pivoted intermediate its ends to the casing 10.

To the outer end of the lever 35 there is attached a rope 36 which passes over a guide-roller 37 and thence to the lower end of the davit-boom 1, to which it is attached at the point 39. When the davit-boom is in the vertical position this rope is slack, but when the davit-boom 1 reaches its farthest outboard position the rope is placed under tension and the brake is caused to act. A box-screw 10 located at any suitable point between the ends of the rope 36 serves to adjust the length and therefore the tautness of said rope.

, The brake lever 35 is held in the set position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 by means of a rope or other suitable flexible device 41 having one end connected to the outer, end of the lever and its other end connected by a link 43 to a hook or pin 14:. The rope 4:1 is provided with an adjusting box-screw 12.

The brake mechanism just described serves to automatically check the outward movement of the davit-boom 1 when said boom reaches a predetermined outboard position. At that time the brake mechanism and other parts assume the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and indicated by the reference characters 1, 6", 11, 8, 35 and 36.

\Vhen the boat is inboard the davit boom 1 is in upright or vertical position and is held in that position by the rod 6, rack 8, and associated gearing, the brake lever 35 being maintained in set position by reason of the link 43 at the lower end of the rope 41 being in engagement with the hook or pin 44. WVhen it is desired to lower the boat, the link 43 is disengaged from the hook or pin 44 thus releasing the brake and permitting the disk 19 to rot-ate. The crank axle 14, pinion 13, toothed wheel 16, axle 17 and pinion l8 are thus permitted to rotate so that the rack 8 and rod 6 are free to move upwardly and outwardly, the easing 10 meanwhile swinging or rocking on its pivot 9. The boom 1 is thus permitted to swing outwardly on its pivot 2. lVhen the davit boom 1 approaches its outermost outboard position, indicated in broken lines at 1, the rope 36 is put under tension, thus moving the outer end of the lever downwardly and applying the brake to the disk 19. After the davit-boom has reached a predetermined outboard or clearing position, the boat is lowered by manual actuation of the windlass mechanism 23. To bank the boat inboard the Windlass 23 and ropes 24 are operated to elevate the boat the requisite distance and the crank 15 is actuated to move the rack 8 and rod 6 inwardly and downwardly to effect an inward movement of the davit-boom.

The Windlass 23 for winding and unwinding the rope 24 to raise or lower the boat, the several ropes or cables connected to the boat 5, and the sheaves or pulleys associated with the rope 24 and with the boom and the boat may be of any known form and per 86 form no part of the present invention,

they being shown to illustrate a complete launching mechanism.

Claims:

1.'In life boat operating mechanism of the class specified, a framework adapted to be fixed to a boat deck, a davit boom hinged to and guided in said framework, a toothed rack having a hinged mounting relatively to the framework, means for operating said rack, a connection between the rack and davit boom, a brake mechanism having a lever connected to the rack operating means, a rope connected to the brake lever and davit boom in such manner that said rope will operate to set the brake and prevent the davit boom swinging outwardly beyond a predetermined clearance point, and windlass mechanism for lowering and elevating the boat.

2. In life boat operating mechanism of the class specified, a framework adapted to be fixed to a boat deck, a davit-boom hinged to and guided in said framework, means including a brake associated with the davitboom adapted to normally hold the davitboom inboard and when released to permit the davit-boom to swing outboard, and means actuated by the davit-boom when the latter has moved outboard a predetermined distance to set said brake and limit the further outboard movement of the davit-boom.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JACOB on BEER. 

